A star from the Discovery Channel’s hit reality series, “Deadliest Catch” will ask the Kirkland community for help to find his missing father during a benefit concert in Kirkland Sunday.
The concert, set for 2 p.m. Sept. 19 at the Trinity Church, 11920 N.E. 80th St., will benefit the “Search for Keith Anderson Fund” to help the family find the missing Anacortes man.
Keith Anderson, 63, has been missing since Jan. 6. He left Anacortes to meet an unidentified acquaintance in the Arlington area and has not been seen since.
An outpouring of support has already come his family’s way. Several months ago, his current and former students held a weekend search operation to find Anderson, but nothing turned up.
The pianist at Trinity Church, Donna Mansfield, whose daughter and step-daughters had Anderson as their counselor at Anacortes High School, said, “If there is someone who knows something about Keith’s whereabouts, the family believes that money may help them to talk. Keeping some publicity on the matter is helping them, I hope.”
If no one comes forth, the money raised will be put in a scholarship fund in Anderson’s name at the Anacortes High School, Mansfield said.
The man’s son, Jake Anderson, is appealing to the public for help to find his father and will be at the Kirkland event for a signing session in light of his fame on “Deadliest Catch.”
Anderson was counselor at the high school for 23 years and helped thousands of kids.
“My own daughter said he helped her over many hurdles in high school and was so appreciative of him as a counselor and as a human being,” Mansfield said. “He was also a true family man, totally devoted to his children and wife.”
At the time of his disappearance, Anderson had just retired and was feeling a bit depressed because his daughter had just passed away, Mansfield said. She was physically disabled for all of her life and died due to complications when she was just 40. This may have contributed to his disappearance.
“There was reason to believe that he, in fact, did take his own life,” Mansfield said. “But the circumstances are just too bizarre and just don’t add up.”
Still, no one knows how or why it happened and his son, Jake, has made endless appeals through television and social media to help find his father.
Anderson left his residence with only a small amount of cash, no clothes or other personal items, said police.
He was last seen driving his white Ford Ranger. The Anacortes Police Department and Skagit County Sheriff’s Office later found the truck 11 miles up a remote logging road northwest of Darrington.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Anacortes Police at 360-293-4684.
